Presumptive 2020 Nominee Mike Pence Heads Home

The presumptive 2020 presidential candidate Mike Pence returns today to his home state to view the unveiling of his official Indiana governor’s portrait. Ahead of his visit, DNC Midwest Press Secretary Mandy McClure released the following statement:

“Unfortunately for Presumptive Pence, Hoosiers remember that he was a pivotal player in the Republican’s failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and advocated for deep cuts to Medicaid, which hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers rely on for health care.

“Trump and Pence have done very little to help Hoosiers. They’ve proposed slashing funds for public education, suggested enormous tax cuts for the richest Americans, and tried repeatedly to repeal healthcare reform, which would be devastating for Indiana. This isn’t progress. It isn’t common sense, and it’s not what Hoosiers deserve from this administration. If Pence is serious about running for president, he should start by listening to Hoosiers who want access to healthcare and an agenda that prioritizes hardworking families over Wall Street and corporations.”

 

Despite repeated promises not to cut the program, the administration proposed a $600 billion cut to Medicaid, which 19 percent of Hoosiers rely on for their healthcare.

Washington Post: “Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) would be slashed by at least 20 percent for the next two fiscal years. According to the budget document, the administrator favors a renewal of CHIP, a program created 20 years ago for the children of lower-working class families and which currently insures 5.6 million children.”

Kaiser Health News:  “79 percent of adult and child Medicaid enrollees in Indiana are in families with a worker.”

Kaiser Health News: Medicaid covers 3 in 5 nursing home residents in Indiana, and 2 in 5 people with disabilities.

 

Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget could threaten federal funding for Indiana’s substance abuse prevention efforts.

Modern Healthcare: “…the budget of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is slated to be cut by $400 million next year, including $116 million from SAMHSA's Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program and $73 million less for substance abuse prevention efforts.”

 

Trump’s proposed budget would strip Indiana of $56 million in federal funding towards after school programs for 20,000 students and teacher training initiatives.

NPR: “The Education Department faces a 13.5 percent cut in spending, including the elimination of $1.2 billion in after-school programs and a $2.3 billion program to reduce class sizes and train teachers.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Indiana Currently Receives $19.8 Million In Federal Funding For 21st Century Community Learning Centers.”

Indy Star: “…proposes eliminating the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which serves 20,000 children in Indiana and 1.6 million children nationwide in before- and after-school programs.”

CNN: “The Budget proposes eliminating Supporting Effective Instruction (SEI) State Grants (Title II State grants), a program that provides formula funds to States to improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other schools leaders. SEI grants are poorly targeted and funds are spread too thinly to have a meaningful impact on student outcomes. In addition, there is limited evidence that teacher professional development, a primary activity funded by the program, has led to increases in student achievement.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Indiana currently receives $35 million in supporting Effective Instruction State Grants.”

 

Under Trump’s budget proposal, Indiana would lose $67.2 million in federal funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) job training grants and $14.7 million for Employment Service state grants.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Enacted in 2014, WIOA provides employment and training services for adults, dislocated workers, and youth through formula grants to states. It also provides state grants for adult education and literacy and vocational rehabilitation to help individuals with disabilities obtain employment. In addition, it includes other programs, such as Job Corps, and amendments to the Wagner-Peyser Act, which authorizes the Employment Service (ES). The Trump budget would cut funding for WIOA job training formula grants by nearly $1.1 billion, from $2.7 billion to $1.6 billion. It would also cut total ES funding by $255 million.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Trump’s budget calls for a 38% cut to Wagner-Peyser act employment service state grants, which would cost Indiana $4.9 million.

 

Trump’s budget proposal sought to slash funding for SNAP benefits, which provided 742,000 Hoosiers with nutrition assistance last year. More than 73 percent of participants were members of a family with children.

          ABC News: “…includes reforms that estimate it would reduce funding for SNAP by $190 million over the next ten years.”

 

Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate LIHEAP, which provides more than $75 million in federal funding to help low-income Hoosiers pay their utility bills.

Washington Post: “The Rural Utilities Service would lose billions of dollars under the proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including more than $2 billion used to keep power lines, phones and Internet connectivity working in rural areas.”

Indy Star: “His budget also calls for the elimination of the $498 million Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program, the $477 million Rural Economic Development Program and the nearly $3 billion Community Development Block Grants… [Matt Greller, executive director of AIM] also worried about the negative consequences of cutting the Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program, which he said rural communities use constantly. ‘Often in rural Indiana, you don’t have the density you do in other areas. The cost to install those systems is astronomical,’ Greller said. ‘You could have a whole host of problems from not installing those services.’”

 

Trump proposed eliminating Community Development Block Grants, which send $60.5 million in funding to Indiana for housing and infrastructure – particularly in rural areas.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Indiana currently receives $60.5 million in federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant Program.

Journal Sentinel: “An even larger concern for Matt Greller, executive director of AIM, a group that advocates for Indiana municipalities, is the elimination of Community Development Block Grants. Those grants go toward local projects that combat poverty, provide housing or build infrastructure. Cities and towns of various sizes have benefited from those projects.”

Journal Sentinel: “Rural Clinton and Vermillion counties received a collective $1 million in grants in 2016 for wastewater drinking water. Cities in Benton and Gibson counties also received money in 2016.”

 

Trump’s budget would impose cuts to housing subsidies for rural families and eliminate funds for rural housing revitalization in Indiana. The state stands to lose $18.67 million in funding through the elimination of the HOME Investment Partnership Program, which helps poor rural and urban communities rehabilitate affordable housing.

Washington Post: “The Rural Housing Insurance Fund — which provides mortgages to rural home buyers and insures home loans — would cut the budget for its direct-loan program to $250 million in 2018, from nearly $3.7 billion in 2016.”

Washington Post: “The administration is also seeking to cut nearly $50 million in subsidies to renters in rural areas, reducing funding for that program to $1.3 billion.”

 

Trump proposed cuts to homelessness prevention programs that have helped Indiana reduce its rate of homelessness by 17.4 percent over the past five years. The budget calls for an overall $133 million cut to Homeless Assistance Grants, and Indiana would lose Housing Choice Vouchers that currently help 4,166 Hoosier families avoid homelessness.

Northwest Indiana Times: “State and local officials attributed the continued reduction in homelessness to rapid rehousing and housing-first programs, which aim to quickly transition the homeless into permanent, affordable housing without preconditions. The programs provide social services after the person has been housed. But local officials fear that federal cuts to affordable housing programs included in President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 would undermine that progress.”

 

Trump’s budget proposed deep cuts to agricultural spending, including to key programs such as crop insurance and premium subsidies that support farmers across Indiana.

          Indy Star: “Trump's budget targets rural Indiana despite overwhelming support.”

Reuters: “Some of the biggest proposed cuts come from changes to the crop insurance system, which many farmers rely on to keep their operations running.”

Indy Star: “Randy Kron, president of Indiana Farm Bureau, said the farmers he represents are most concerned about maintaining subsidies for crop insurance premiums. Under Trump's plan, funding for that would be reduced by $2 billion in 2019. Kron used this year as an example of why Indiana farmers need the funding, with temperature swings and rain making it difficult for farmers to plant and maintain their crops. They can't always depend on crop sales and prices staying consistent, he said.”

Indy Star: “According to the Indiana Department Of Agriculture, Indiana ranks 10th in the country in agriculture sales, and 83 percent of the state is covered by farms, forests and woodlands.”

 

Trump’s proposed budget would severely limit long-distance Amtrak train service in Indiana, which 60,000 Hoosiers used in 2016.

Journal and Courier: “President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal eliminates funding for Amtrak’s long-distance Cardinal train, which stops in Indianapolis, Crawfordsville and Lafayette three days per week. If Congress approves that budget cut, rail service to Chicago would be limited to the four days per week Amtrak’s Hoosier State train makes the trip. While Amtrak says ridership and revenue on the Hoosier State are up, it's unclear if communities along the line would pony up the cash needed to maintain seven-day service if the Cardinal goes away.”